An excellent resource for understanding and overcoming addiction written with both authority and humility.
A debut guide presents a secularized 12-step program filled with advice gained from personal experience.
When Bill W. (not the Bill W. who co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous) was finally ready to face his alcohol addiction, he followed the Twelve Steps until he fully recovered. But he constantly needed to adapt the AA program to fit his agnostic views. To help others like himself, he has since created a secularized version of the program by rewording the “God steps” to work for addicts regardless of their faith. This essentially replaces dependence on God with the responsibility to “show up and take an active part” in your recovery. Religious readers may wince at this effort to remove God, but the author puts forth a convincing argument, asserting that the traditional program deters many nonbelieving addicts from pursuing a highly effective plan. (He also expresses his respect for religion, something that should ease tensions with the faithful.) Later in the book, W. delves into the biological processes of addiction and the universal characteristics of users, applying knowledge he has acquired as both a biologist and former alcoholic. In this section in particular, the author makes complex concepts incredibly clear by using tangible examples and metaphors. For example, he compares addiction to a furnace with a broken thermostat that will continue to heat up until there are disastrous consequences. The second half of the manual is focused solely on W.’s plan, with steps broken down into “The First 90 Days Sober” (Steps 1 to 3), “Reconstruction” (Steps 4 to 9), and “Long-Term Sobriety” (Steps 10 to 12). Having traversed the 12-step program himself, the author often uses the pronoun “we” with a tone free of judgment. His sharing of powerful firsthand experiences further personalizes and legitimizes his writing. One of the book’s weaknesses is that the target audience is unclear and shifts depending on the section. Only the second half seems directed at addicts themselves. The fact-heavy first half seems more for those researching addiction or recovery programs. Still, the guide contains a wealth of information and inspiration from beginning to end.
An excellent resource for understanding and overcoming addiction written with both authority and humility.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9996435-0-1
Page Count: 117
Publisher: Beowulf Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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